Saw a couple of oddballs at the FFL today.

Riomouse911 · Jun 17, 2021

I went in to my receiving FFL to start the paperwork and 10-day purgatory for a Glock 44 .22 and they had a couple of neat guns... again.

The first was an unaltered three line 1891 made in 1904. It still has the original crest, the metal sling swivels, a walnut-looking non-laminated stock and the rear sight clearly marked (in arshins!). The bore was a bit dark but not trashed and the action was tight. For a 117 year old Russian battle rifle that certainly saw some wartime action during its lifetime, it wasn’t in bad shape at all.

The second gun was a Hamilton No. 27 .22 tip up that a customer brought in to have some repair and restoration work done (the rear sight and the bolt through the action aren’t original so the FFL will be recreating them and refinishing it.) Kind of a cool little weird bolt-action break open with a sleeved brass barrel wrapped in blued steel. Barrel is about 15” long, but it’s an antique so ATF doesn’t get uppity.

If I’m back around after it’s restored I’ll post some pics of the Hamilton.

Stay safe.

NIGHTLORD40K · Jun 17, 2021

I see those Hamilton's pop up once in a while. Neat gallery guns, but a bit dainty for modern .22lr I think.....cant remember if they were smoothbores maybe?

Last time I saw a M91 marked for Arshins, it had been shortened and rechambered for .30-06 by that weird surplus outfit in NY that was setup in a castle- the name escapes me at the moment. I remember reading they were prone to catastrophic failure back in the day, so that was a hard pass.....

Edit: It was Bannermans, duh.

troy fairweather · Jun 17, 2021

NIGHTLORD40K said:
I see those Hamilton's pop up once in a while. Neat gallery guns, but a bit dainty for modern .22lr I think.....cant remember if they were smoothbores maybe?

Last time I saw a M91 marked for Arshins, it had been shortened and rechambered for .30-06 by that weird surplus outfit in NY that was setup in a castle- the name escapes me at the moment. I remember reading they were prone to catastrophic failure back in the day, so that was a hard pass.....

Edit: It was Bannermans, duh.

You mean bannermans

Speedo66 · Jun 17, 2021

NIGHTLORD40K said:
Last time I saw a M91 marked for Arshins, it had been shortened and rechambered for .30-06 by that weird surplus outfit in NY that was setup in a castle- the name escapes me at the moment. I remember reading they were prone to catastrophic failure back in the day, so that was a hard pass.....

Edit: It was Bannermans, duh.

Thankfully, Bannerran built that castle on an island in the Hudson River.

Before that he had a huge arsenal, including high explosive artillery rounds, in Manhattan.

Dave DeLaurant · Jun 17, 2021

Speedo66 said:
Thankfully, Bannerran built that castle on an island in the Hudson River. Before that he had a huge arsenal, including high explosive artillery rounds, in Manhattan.

Plenty (tons) of live ordnance was still at the 501 Broadway retail store too -- when they finally emptied the building prior to demo, the NYPD's bomb squad was heavily involved its removal and safe disposal.

For some very entertaining viewing, I highly recommend the recently released 90 minute documentary available from the Bannerman Trust: http://bannermangallery.com/store/p1/Bannerman_DVD_Video.html#/

someguy2800 · Jun 17, 2021

Do you mine if I ask what they were asking for the M91? Just curious

Riomouse911 · Jun 17, 2021

someguy2800 said:
Do you mine if I ask what they were asking for the M91? Just curious

I don’t know, but here is their email if you want to send an inquiry:

[email protected]

The owners are Brad and his son Bryn, they’re really good folks :thumbup:

.

Stay safe.

Riomouse911 · Jun 17, 2021

NIGHTLORD40K said:
I see those Hamilton's pop up once in a while. Neat gallery guns, but a bit dainty for modern .22lr I think.....cant remember if they were smoothbores maybe?

Last time I saw a M91 marked for Arshins, it had been shortened and rechambered for .30-06 by that weird surplus outfit in NY that was setup in a castle- the name escapes me at the moment. I remember reading they were prone to catastrophic failure back in the day, so that was a hard pass.....

Edit: It was Bannermans, duh.

I’ve read about that castle in the river, some magazine had an article on it a few years back being used as “a weapons depot” or some tripe like that. :barf:

Too bad they didn’t import a few shipping containers more of them for sale.

Stay safe.

wiscoaster · Jun 17, 2021

I missed whether you said that Mosin went home with you?

troy fairweather · Jun 17, 2021

I've never been on the island but have passed it dozens of times striper fishing in the spring, I caught my largest inland striper about a mile from the island, a very nice 52 pounder.

entropy · Jun 17, 2021

The Arshins are struck out on that Sesty M91, the other side of the rear sight should be marked in meters, indicating Finn use. I believe I see the SA-in-a-square Finn mark on the RH side about even with the date and serial no. Stock is a two-piece, looks more like beech than walnut.

Riomouse911 · Jun 17, 2021

entropy said:
The Arshins are struck out on that Sesty M91, the other side of the rear sight should be marked in meters, indicating Finn use. I believe I see the SA-in-a-square Finn mark on the RH side about even with the date and serial no. Stock is a two-piece, looks more like beech than walnut.

It doesn’t shock me that this was a Finnish gun, they needed them desperately and took pretty good care of the arms they bought, made or captured. The wood is heavy, and not laminated, but the years of whatever preservative is on it make it really dark and walnut-ish in appearance. (I bet it is beech now that you mention it.) . There is a pretty big knot in the wood that doesn’t look like walnut either.

The barrel looks original, so I don’t think other than the added Finnish markings this was completely rebarrelled when it was inspected and stamped.

Looking closer, I didn’t see the SA because it wasn’t very pronounced in person. I posted using the phone, but on a computer monitor it does stand out making this a Finnish-SA stamped 1891. Good eye, thanks for the clarification! :thumbup:

wiscoaster said:
I missed whether you said that Mosin went home with you?

I didn’t buy it. I just bought a couple of handguns recently, and with today’s ammo madness and the hassle of buying on line in Ca. I’m not looking to add another caliber to the “I can’t find any ammo now” list.

Stay safe.

Speedo66 · Jun 18, 2021

troy fairweather said:
I've never been on the island but have passed it dozens of times striper fishing in the spring, I caught my largest inland striper about a mile from the island, a very nice 52 pounder.

I had a boat slipped on the Hudson in Croton-on-Hudson, been on the island a few times.

At this point, your biggest threat is not unexploded ordinance, but falling bricks and rampant poison ivy.

Great fishing there, congrats on the big striper!

Jim Watson · Jun 18, 2021

The brass bore in the Hamilton was an intelligent response to smokeless .22s.
A lot of chlorate priming mix in the rim, a little hot powder in the case; back then a .22 could rust before you got it home.

NIGHTLORD40K · Jun 20, 2021

I saw a sorta oddball yesterday- one of those neato Norinco Micromauser .22s. They are rare in the States, though I believe they are still pretty common in Canada and Europe. Mechanically a copy of the Brno 2/ CZ152, wrapped in a pretty darn accurate 7/8 scale K98k stock.

Ya, I bought it. Comes home Thursday.

AMraider · Jun 20, 2021

I love those old Sestroryetsk's. I see very few in the wild around here and I'm pretty sure that would have come home with me.

Saw a couple of oddballs at the FFL today.

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